A report on one of the stops on the Traveling Projector tour, where we visit 11 cities in Java with videos on pluralism, migrant workers, corruption, and West Papua.

Traveling Projector has almost reached the end of its journey. Malang was the second last city before we closed the tour in Jakarta.

We arrived in Malang on in the afternoon of 26 May. We then drove to the screening venue, Warung Kelir (Colour Cafe), a cafe where people from literature, film, music, and academia circles hang out. The host of the event this time was Lensa Mata, a community of young people who are interested in films and socio-cultural issues.

The playlist for Malang was still focused on issues of tolerance, plus films on West Papua. After 'The Black Umbrella' closed the screening, more than 50 spectators were still present. The discussion held afterwards was lively and vibrant, with many questions, comments, and sharing of experiences from a diverse audience of artists, journalists, students, lecturers, and activists. This screening was perhaps the most engaging one so far, not only in terms of the number of viewers but also with regards to the discussion.

The audience found that such documentary films can be alternatives to information that's usually obtained from the mainstream media, and that image and video gives makes a stronger impression on viewers. Some of the audience hope that events like this should be held more often not only in the cities, but also in villages or in communities who are directly affected by the issues highlighted in the films.

A report on one of the stops on the Traveling Projector tour, where we visit 11 cities in Java with videos on pluralism, migrant workers, corruption, and West Papua.

On 22nd May 2014 and after 11 days of touring around Java, Traveling Projector headed to Solo. There, we were warmly welcomed by Blontank Poer, the founder of Indonesia Blogger Home community. The screening that night was opened by a Keroncong music performance, which was very interesting because the genre is often considered as 'something for old folks', but in this community it was played by young people.

We closed with a film titled 'Black Umbrella', which portrays the stories of two women who demand their rights; The first for her land and the second for justice for her son who was killed in the 1998 Reformation struggle.

More people turned up as the night went on as people usually hang out at the venue until very late at night. Sipping warm ginger drinks and tea, the audience who were mostly young people participated actively in the discussion afterwards.

One attendee asked about the result of the action performed by Mrs. Sumarsih in The Black Umbrella film, whether there was a response from the Government or not. EngageMedia's Dhyta Chaturani, who is an activist from the '98 Reformation movement explained that the 224 actions have not been responsed to and that Mrs. Sumarsih together with other activists will continue to act every week until their demands are fulfilled. According to a more senior viewer who was present, these short documentary films are inspiration for young people to gain solidarity and try to make social change.

A report on one of the stops on the Traveling Projector tour, where we visit 11 cities in Java with videos on pluralism, migrant workers, corruption, and West Papua.

Traveling Projector arrived in Surabaya at midnight on Friday, 23 May 2014. The next morning, we headed to C2O, a library and community space for young people who are concerned about the cultural heritage of the city.

We held our first Surabaya screening later in the evening in the open space of the C2O library courtyard. The event was opened by Erlin Guntoro of C2O and followed by Dhyta Caturani of EngageMedia who brieifly explained the 'Traveling Projector' theme.

Similar to what we did in Solo, the films we screened were focused more on tolerance and human rights. After only about 10 minutes through watching the videos, rain began to fall. We quickly rolled up the mats and moved the projector inside the library. The room of 4x4 metres felt a little cramped, but at least 20 spectators stayed until the end of the discussion.

On the second night the weather was bright and we were able to host the show at the C2O library backyard. The theme of the screening this time was West Papua. Four short films about the stories of everyday lives of the West Papuans were presented. The screening was closed with a longer video titled 'R.I', which tells the story of Indonesian political exiles who opened an Indonesian restaurant in Paris.

The spectators who were mostly young people asked us about activism in the Reformation era that was portrayed in one of the films, Black Umbrella. They also asked whether activists, either from EngageMedia or other groups, feel tired of promoting human rights and democracy. One of the participants seemed especially pessimistic about the current political situation, but we did all agree that we have to continue to fight for justice for everyone regardless.

We stopped by in Yogyakarta for screenings over two days and had an office warming party!

We finally arrived in Yogyakarta, where we spent two days screening dozens of human rights and environmental videos. Yogyakarta is located near Mount Merapi, a famous active volcano, and is also known for her modest and historic old city since here we will find the last of Javanese Kingdoms, Mataram.

And on the second day, we screened films in our office warming event in Pakualaman, Yogyakarta, which we relocated to last month from Jakarta. This screening was held in conjunction with the Documentary Film Festival (FFD).

We would like to thank all of our friends, old and new, in Yogyakarta who came to share the night with us!

“I'm not an activist, but after watching the film about Sumarsih, a mother who lost her son during the turmoil after Reformasi on May 1998, I felt really moved,” said a female student in tears. That's one of the reactions we got from the Traveling Projector tour's first screening in Parahyangan University, Bandung.

At the first stop of the Traveling Projector tour, Bandung, EngageMedia screened 10 films to an audience of 25 people. This activity was conducted with help from SorgeMag, a youth magazine in Bandung.

The most interesting part of this screening was that we went deeper into the issues highlighted in the films during discussion. Most of the audience focused on how the May 1998 tragedy happened and the state of Chinese minorities in Indonesia. As one of the students present put it, "I loved the part in 'Aku Indonesia' when the character said "I am of Chinese descent but I'm an Indonesian." He explained that as a child he developed a stereotype about the Chinese based on what he learned from his family. But as he grew up and made many of his Chinese friends, that stereotype slowly faded away.

Wanggi, a pantomime artist who was present said that, "The films I watched can become supplements for an artist. We still feel all of that discrimination. Today, I was performing my art on the issue of 'Indonesia: Sexual Crime Emergency', and I kicked by the police. These films can help me give some courage."

One student from the Kayak Dayak tribe of West Borneo told us that his father who had formerly joined a Nationalist-Leftist party, Partindo, in 1960s was socially stigmatized by the New Order regime, and that his family suffered because of this stigma.

The discussion then went on to how easily people "forget" all the human rights violations that have been made by the former military dictatorship in Indonesia. Even to remember those things, it seems that we need a lot of effort and struggle. One of the attendees suggested that EngageMedia should try to broaden its audience so it can reach more of younger generation.

And why must we remember the history of human rights violations from the past? Dhyta Caturani, an EngageMedia staff and anchor of the tour, told the audience that she frequently visits the victims of human rights violation. She did it for herself. By remembering those victims we help to ease the burdens of the survivors of those violations. She continued to mention that film also has the ability to ease the pain and to build empathy, then solidarity. Films enable us to join the struggle and move together to build a better future.

A report on one of the stops on the Traveling Projector tour, where we visit 11 cities in Java with videos on pluralism, migrant workers, corruption, and West Papua.

We just visited the sixth city on the Traveling Projector tour, Purwokerto, which is located near the active volcano, Mount Slamet.

Our local host in Purwokerto, Gerakan Desa Membangun (GDM), is a movement working to build networks between villages. They helped us organise a screening to discuss social issues with youth from Karangnangka village.

There were many discussions after the screening ranging from what EngageMedia is, what the function of this form of video media is, and the hottest topic for the night, how to measure video impact. We reflected that it was an interesting night, as we packed up to make our way to the seventh city, Yogyakarta.